Improvement in button-lathes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. A. SMITH.

Button-Lathe. No. 222,161. Patented Dec. 2, I879. FiEII.

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A A SMITH Button-Lathe. No. 222,161. Patent-ed Dec. 2, 1879.

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N.FEI'ERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WQSHKNG UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIoE-AUSTIN A. SMITH, OF LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN BUTTON-LATHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,161, dated December2, 1879; application filed June 9, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AUSTIN A. SMITH, ofLeominster, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have inventedan 'Improved Button-Lathe or Machine for M akin g Buttons, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification.

My invention relates to machines for manufacturing buttons; and itconsists in a new method of manufacture of horn buttons, and in amachine devised to overcome the special difficulties in the manufactureof horn buttons by machinery.

Buttons of bone and ivory have been made by machinery; but, owingto thepeculiar grain and toughness of horn1 it has been found impracticable towork it by machines such as are used for bone or ivory.

According to the method nowcommonly followed for the manufacture of hornbuttons the laminae or thinpieces ofmaterial of the proper thickness forthe button are first sawed from the tip of the horn. These laminae areof nearly circular but irregular shape, and are next turnedattheir edgesto a true circular shape, after which, held in alat-he by a suitablechuck, their faces are separately turned by a hand-tool to thepropershape, this latter operation requiring the laminm to be chuckedtwice.

In making ivory and bone buttons by machinery the cutters employed havebeen set perpendicular to the face of the lamina to be cut, and thushave had a scraping or drilling action, which will not answer for horn.

My invention is shown in a machine consisting of a bed'suppor'ting nearits middle portion a holding device or clamp consisting of two parts,one part being preferably a removable ring provided with a sharp flutedor scalloped edge, suitably held in an upright head or bracket rigidlyfixed upon the bed, against which edge the lamina of horn, without beingturned to true circular form, is pressed by the other part of the clamp,(shown as a ring hung in a forked arm,) which is pivoted near the bottomof the bed, and is automatically moved up toward the lamina topress itagainst the scalloped edge by an eccentric operated by a camupon theshaft which moves the cutters up to their work just before the rotatingout ter reaches the lamina. The rotating cutters are set obliquely tothe face of the lamina, and are held by suitable clamps in slots at theends of spindles which rotate in hearings in heads which are held nearthe ends of the bed and are free to slide thereon. These heads areadjust-ably connected together by a; bar

provided at each end with a lug, in which works one end of aright-and-left-handed screw, the other end of which engages threads on alug attached to the cutter-carrying head. This bar isconnected by a linkwith a crank upon a shaft operated at will by a handle or other wise tobring the cutter-carrying heads and cutters alternately into operation.Either. head may beseparately adjusted by the rightand-left handed screwto bring its knife to the right position.

By my method the laminae, just as out from the horn, are held inposition, and both faces and edges are cut at one operation, doing awaywith the different operations of cutting the edges and each faceseparately, as bythe old method.

Figure l is a side view of my improved but ton-machine Fig.' 2, adetail, showing the clamping device in top view and partly in section onthe line :10, Fig. 1 Fig. 3, a face view of the sharpedged ring forholding the lamina of horn, showing, also the end of the cutter and itsspindle; Fig. 4, a view of the holdingring in its forked arm; Fig. 5, aview of the knife and its holding-clamp detached; Fig.6, a section online y y of Fig. 2; Fig. 7, a side viewwith parts broken away.

The bed a supports near its middle portion the rigidly-attached bracket1), provided at its upper part with a circular opening suitablyshouldered or counterbored, as :as I), to receive the ring 0 and hold itfirmly without rotation. The said ring 0 is provided with a projectingsharp edge, 0, preferably of steel, shaped to resemble acircularly-arranged series of V-shaped scallops having sharp edges toengage and hold the lamina, the inner angles, c", of the said V-shapedportions terminating at points in the circumference of a circle a littlelarger in diameter than the button to be made just large enough topermit the cutter to pass the said angles 0 The less the space betweenthe said angles and the cutter the less will be the waste of material.This edge 0 cuts into and holds said lamina firmly whilebein g actedupon by the cutters. 'lhe lamina of horn is pressed and held firmlyagainst the edge e by a second ring, d, suitably held or seated in agroox'ed part, (1 of a larger frame, 01, supported upon pivots or screwsd in the forkedarm c, the lower end of which is pivoted at e to thecross-piece f, fastened to the rigid bed a.

'At the top of bed a, and resting upon it, (see Fig. 2, and shown insection in Fig. 6,) is a link, g, provided at one end with an opening,through which the arm 0 passes, while the other end of the said link'isformed as an eccentric-strap, to embrace the eccentric h at the upperend of the vertical shaft t, which shaft, held in suitable bearingsattached to the bed a, is provided at its lower end with alaterally-extended arm, j, which, as herein shown, has at its outer endan opening to receive a ,part of the slide-bar k, operated by the cam landa spring, 70, and guided in its movement by the guide 70, attached tothe bed'a.

The bar it has a shoulder, 70, to move the arm j in the direction tooperate the clamps or holding devices and release the lamina; but at itsopposite side the arm j is directly acted upon bya spring, k this springmade adjustable as to its force by a nut, 70 and being interposed toenable the clamp, when forced together to hold a lamina to be cut, tohave an opportunity to adapt itself to any ordinary variations in thethickness of successive laminze.

The cam lis on a shaft,l, provided with a crank, or its equivalent,(here shown as a disk,) m, provided with a pin, m, to operate the link12, attached at n to the rod 0, connecting the two heads or carriagespp.

The said rod 0 is adjustably attached to the heads 19 p by screws 2passed through slots 3 in the ends of the rod 0, said slots permittinglongitudinal adjustment of the heads 1) p with relation to the edge c.-

The heads 19 p are provided with lugs 19 which, by right-and-lefthandedscrews 0*, are connected with other lugs, 0, on the rod 0, said lugs andright-and-left-handed screws bein g denominated head or carriageadjusting devices, and enabling the heads, and consequently the cuttersattached to the spindles t t, to be readily adjusted with relation tothe rod 0, so that the said rod, being reciprocated by the link a, crankm m, and shaft 1, shall alternately advance the cutters the properdistance, one to cut into the lamina from one end, and then the otherfrom the other side, the two cutters shaping the face and back of thebutton and its edges, and entering the lamina being cut to such depththat the finishing-cutter will leave the button completely free to falleasily from the lamina.

The spindles t t are rotated, as usual, by belts on the pulleys 13 t andare provided with from the tip of the horn with the chucks t preferablymade detachable, different ones being used for large and small buttons,said chucks being provided with slots 8, at an acute angle to the axisof the spindle, the said slots extending radially to the center of thespindle, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to present the chisel-shapedcutting-edge of the cutter u in such obliquity to the surface to be cutas to enable the said cutting-edge to shave or cut the horn smoothly.

The knife is held in place by the cutterclamping device, consisting of ascrew provided with a projection, 5,*which acts on the beveled side a ofthe cutter, the projection being drawn against it, the shank of thecutter, by the slotted nut 6, acting against a shoulder in the chuck atthe end of the spindle.

In operation, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 1, thelamina of horn, previously sawed to the right thickness, is placedbetween the edge 0 and the ring d of the holding device, and the shaft 1is turned by the operator by a handle or in any convenient manner,causing the cam l to slide the bar 70 and spring k to move the arm j andturn the shaft 4., which, by its eccentric h and link g, (see Figs. 2and 6,) draws the arm 0 and ring (I up against the lamina of horn,holding it securely just before and while the head 12 and its cutter arebrought by the crank m m and connections into action upon the horn. I

This form of clamp will take a very firm hold on a very narrow outerring of horn, thus making the largest possible button from the lamina ofhorn; and I employ difi'erent-sized rings 0 d for the different-sizedbuttons, the said rings being fitted to the eounterbores 11 (1 andslipped into place therein when required, thus using the various laminaesawed minimum of waste.

These cutters will work either way of the grain of the horn, therebyenabling me to manufacture buttons from slabs cut from the sides of thelower hollow part of the horn.

It is obvious that the rings 0 61 may be.

clamped upon the horn by the workman by a handle provided with a cam, ora screw, or any equivalent device, without the automatic device shown,consisting of the eccentric h,

shaft 2', arm j, bar is, and cam l.

The annular frame d is hung on screws, to permit the ring to come tofull bearing on the horn. The spring k prevents the ring d from beingpositively moved toward the ring 0 with sufficient force to out toodeeply into the horn.

By completing the rotation of the shaft 1 the two heads with theircutters will be brought into action on the different faces of thelamina, and they will be adjusted by the adjusting devices so that thetwo cutting operations will completely sever the button from the oiiterring of waste material.

J ust after the second cutterhas completed its work, and while it iscoming back fromthe button, the bar is again comes in contact with theflat part of the cam 1, allowing the clamp or holding device to open torelease the ringof horn and becomeready to receive a newlamina. It isobvious that when once thus adjusted the cutters will always be broughtby the rotation of the shaft L to the same position in the horn.

The cutter-edges may be of any figure to give the faces and edges of thebuttons any desired form.

I claim W 1. In a button'machine, the combination of two sliding headscarrying the cutter-spindles,

and constructed each with a lug, a slotted bar 3. In a button-machine,aholding-clamp consisting of two rings, one provided with a fluted orirregular edge set in a counterbored fixed standard, and the otherhaving swivelbearings in a forked moving arm, substantially as shown anddescribed.

4. In a button-machine, the combination of a sharp-edged ring held in astationary head,

a ring held in a pivoted arm, and the link, ec-

centric, shaft, arm, and bar connected by spring therewith, andactuatingicam, substantially as described.

5. In a button-machine, the combination, with the moving member of theclamp or holder, of a link, an eccentric, a shaft, a springbar, and anoperating-cam, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

AUSTIN ABBO'l SMITH. Witnesses:

G. WV. GREGORY, N. E. WHITNEY.

